Over the past week our Daily News has had headlines that a journalist probably prays for, but our community is being left with the stains and pains of these actions. We have lost another child to a senseless killing; my condolences to the mother although what do you tell a mother after she loses her son? Unfortunately, its something that many of us have thought of time and time again; I am personally tired of having such thoughts. I'm tired of having to bear witness to yet another mother mourning and suffering for reasons unknown to her and others. For each time that we've heard of the lost of another young life, we've heard promises from our legislators and commissioner's promising to 'clean up the streets' and make our community safer. The truth is, the only people that can make the community safe again are the members of that community; they are the only ones who will truly care.
Since the beginning of this year there has been a number of violent incidents within close proximity or directly within the areas of Head Start Centers in the Virgin Islands. On St. Thomas there was a shooting reported directly in front of the Bovoni Head Start Center and in February, three employees of the Berg's Home Head Start Center found their cars with bullet holes and a security guard at the Dept. of Human Services was shot while being robbed of his cellular phone. Patrols where increased within the area, as promised by the police, but that didn't stop the violence from escalating. On Tuesday, April 9, 2013, gunshots erupted outside the Bergs Home Head Start (once again), children where asked to lie on the ground for fifteen minutes to ensure safety from stray bullets. While many parents, came with an urgency to check on the well being of their children and to take them out of harms way, they where unable to do so. Police had engaged the suspect within a gunfight that ended up directly behind the Head Start, so the center was placed on lock down, another measure to ensure the safety of students. The following Friday, angry & concerned parents spoke with officials from the Dept. of Human Services and the Virgin Islands Police Dept. expressing their concerns for the safety of their children. After a vote parents and officials came to the decision to send students to other Head Starts within the community that weren't experiencing such troubles due to violence in the community.
Now, just last Thursday, a parent became a victim after dropping of his child at Head Start in Est. Williams Delight, on St. Croix. When returning to his car the victim was approached by four men who asked for his chain, and when he hesitated, they shot him and took it from him. In an attempt to escape the father ran into the Head Start, but was pursued and shot again from his assailant within the Head Start Center housing two employees and ten students at the time. Because of the violent nature of the crime the center has been closed until further notice. Earlier this year a store keeper was shot two blocks from another Head Start on St. Croix; when will this blatant disregard for human life end? I don't think that the blame should lie solely on those committing the crimes either, for what are our elected officials for? If we cannot expect our children to be safe within the learning institutions of our society then where are they safe? And while I thank the Lord that no one was hurt physically in either of these situations, I still can't help but wonder the effects of these incidents psychologically on such young minds, and hope that (if affected at all) it is irreversible and not a life long threat. Early childhood learners are very impressionable and such events can have negative effects, socio-emotional and psychological, that may past adolescence. I hope that as a community we will, one day soon, be able to rise above the violent crimes that are rampant in today's society and elevate ourselves to a more civilized way of living and thinking to secure a brighter future for our children.
